''Gil Eannes'' is a former Portuguese hospital ship, now permanently moored in the Port of Viana do Castelo, serving as

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

and youth hostel. The official name of the ship is written according to the old spelling of the Portuguese language, but occasionally it appears written with the modern spelling ''Gil Eanes''. Between 1955 and 1973, ''Gil Eannes'' was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of the Portuguese White Fleet that operated in the

codfish Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...

fishing in the seas of the

Grand Banks of Newfoundland The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...

and Greenland. As the flagship of the White Fleet and besides her main function as hospital ship, ''Gil Eannes'' served also as maritime authority, mail ship,

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, icebreaker and general support ship for the Portuguese fishing vessels.

History

''Gil Eannes'' was designed to replace a ship with the same name, as hospital and support ship for the Portuguese White Fleet. The first ''Gil Eannes'' was the former German merchant ship ''Lahneck'', captured by the Portuguese authorities in 1916. ''Lahneck'' was then renamed ''Gil Eannes'', being transformed and employed as auxiliary cruiser by the Portuguese Navy, during World War I. In 1927, she was adapted to hospital ship and sent, for the first time, to the seas of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

in support to the Portuguese fishing fleet. In 1937, she started to support the White Fleet on a regular basis, in 1942 being transferred from the Portuguese Navy to the Portuguese guild of codfish fishing ship owners (''Grémio dos Armadores de Navios da Pesca do Bacalhau''). The ''Grémio dos Armadores de Navios da Pesca do Bacalhau'' ordered a new ship to replace the first ''Gil Eannes''. The new ''Gil Eannes'' was built by the Viana do Castelo Naval Shipyards, in 1955. She was designed as a state of the art hospital ship, also being able to provide a wide range of services in support to the Portuguese fishing vessels. So besides hospital, the ship served as tug, icebreaker, mail ship and supply ship. The ship also served as the Portuguese maritime authority for the White Fleet, when it was operating in the high seas, for this role carrying on board a naval officer who acted as harbourmaster. In 1963, ''Gil Eannes'' started to operate as

passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

and reefer ship during the periods between the codfish fishing seasons. In 1973, the ship made the last trip to the seas of Newfoundland. In the same year, ''Gil Eannes'' was sent to Brazil in a diplomatic trip under the sponsorship of then Portuguese ambassador

José Hermano Saraiva José Hermano Saraiva GCIH • GCIP (3 October 1919 – 20 July 2012) was a Portuguese professor, historian and jurist. He was most known as a television personality in Portugal, having been the author and presenter of several documentary seri ...

. After the last trip in 1973, the ship lost his functions, staying moored and abandoned in the Port of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

for many years. The ship was intended to be demolished for scrap. In 1997, the historian and TV presenter José Hermano Saraiva (sponsor of the last trip of the ship when he was ambassador to Brazil) launched, in one of his history TV programs, a campaign to save the historical ship ''Gil Eannes'' from the intended demolition that was planned to occur a few days from there . ''Gil Eannes'' was able to be saved in the last minute and, in 1998, she was restored in the Viana do Castelo shipyards, with the support of several institutions, private companies and citizens. Part of the ship (part of the former wards) was transformed in a 60-bed youth hostel, the rest of the ship being restored according to the original features to be a museum ship. ''Gil Eannes'' is now permanently moored in the Viana do Castelo fishing harbor and managed by the Gil Eannes Foundation.

Captains

# João Pereira Ramalheira (from 12 May 1955 to 30 April 1959); # Mário da Costa Fernandes Esteves (from 1 May 1959 to 5 March 1971); # António Manuel Papão Chinita (first time, from 15 March 1971 to 18 January 1973); # Edmundo Ganaviel Castanheira (from 19 January 1973 to 31 March 1973); # António Manuel Papão Chinita (second time, from 30 April 1973 to 2 February 1976); # Armando Vicente Gonçalves (from 4 February 1976 to 30 August 1976); # António Manuel Papão Chinita (third time, from 14 October 1976 to 14 April 1989).

Gallery

File:Viana navio hospital gil eannes (2).JPG, Starboard side File:Gil Eannes Mastros.jpg, Main deck and masts File:Viana navio hospital gil eannes (3).JPG, Stern File:Gil Eannes Chaminé.jpg, Funnel File:Navio Gil Eannes, Viana do Castelo.jpg, Interior and ship's badge File:NH Gil Eannes (casa das máquinas).jpg, Engine room

References

External links

Gil Eannes Foundation
{{coord, 41.6901, N, 8.8304, W, source:wikidata, display=title Maritime history of Portugal Museum ships in Portugal Hospital ships 1955 ships